


Stealing Charity

by stellacanta



Series: Rewind. Reset. [4]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, M/M, Spoilers, minor dubcon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 08:16:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17525102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: Theirs was a bond forged by the close proximity they were forced to share on in their travels and tempered in battle, from saving each other’s lives over and over again.He just couldn’t understand why their bond was somehow worth less than a bond nurtured over time but weakened by distance (and choice).





	Stealing Charity

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler warnings, as usual since this verse is full of them, but also I just want everyone to take a look at the relationship tags. Yeah, expect a lot one sided pining here folks :\  
> This is _not_ going to be a happy fic

“How come you won’t take the bed?”

Alfyn looked up from where he was spreading his bedroll on the floor. “Hmm?”

Therion frowned, “the bed, medicine man. Take it.”

Alfyn simply laughed and rubbed the back of his head. “Aw shucks Therion, I can’t take the bed from my patient.”

“What was that now?”

“I can’t take the bed from you Therion, you’re hurt and you need your rest.” The blonde gave him his brightest smile and then laid down on the bedroll. “It’s fine, I’ve slept on far worse and you obviously need it more than I do.”

“I beg to differ medicine man.” That was all the warning that Alfyn got before he was roughly yanked into the bed. “You’re useless to me if you’re tired and cranky from not getting a good night’s sleep. The journey is long and I can’t have you falling asleep on me when I need healing.”

“Aww Therion, you do care.” Therion didn’t say a word as he felt himself be moved around a bit as Alfyn got comfortable next to him. He winced a bit when Alfyn jostled his arm at a weird angle to get comfortable. Alfyn stopped when he noticed the wince and watched him in concern. He felt his arm get moved more gently into position afterwards. Better. “Still, can’t have you be rollin’ around and ruinin’ all my hard work now. I just got that arm of yours bandaged up, and there’s still that gash on your side that’s just healing.” There was a look of amusement on Alfyn’s face, like he was a particularly difficult child (or a dog that had done something funny).

Therion found himself looking away. “Do you always talk this much before going to sleep?” It was warm with two people crammed onto a rather small bed. He hadn’t realized just how much body heat Alfyn put off, which was weird considering the guy used _ice_ magic. With a huff he snuck one arm and a foot from out under the blanket.

“Only when I’m lookin’ after a patient who insists on potentially reopening his wounds to make sure ol’ Alfyn gets a good night’s sleep.” Therion turned and gave him a blank stare as Alfyn finally stopped moving and settled down next to him. He scowled when Alfyn took the opportunity to poke him in the forehead, and pouted when Alfyn started laughing at the expression on his face. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I appreciate it and all, but I don’t need you makin’ things worse for my sake. Sleep well, Therion. It doesn’t look like you’ve made anything worse, yet.” Alfyn had a soft, sappy expression on his face as he yawned and snuggled his face into the pillow.

“ _Don’t make that face around me_ ,” Therion couldn’t help but think to himself. He frowned a bit at how relaxed Alfyn seemed. His jaw clenched as Alfyn sighed softly into the pillow as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Just what the hell was this idiot thinking letting his guard down around him? Therion was a _thief._ Was this something that he should come to expect from his traveling companion?

It didn’t take long for Alfyn to drift off to sleep. The journey to town had taken a bigger toll than expected, and Therion watched him for as long as he could, before he, too, began to feel drowsiness tug at his consciousness. “ _Why are you so nice to me_ ,” he wondered before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

…

Therion prized his personal space. Yet, ever since that first night where he had shared his bed with Alfyn, he found himself doing so over and over again whenever they came to an inn with too few beds.

It wasn’t even as if it had been planned in advance. He had just come to prefer sleeping with Alfyn after nearly getting crushed by Olberic a few times and waking up to Cyrus muttering in his sleep in the middle of the night _far_ _too many_ times. Compared to the two other guys in their party, Alfyn was a considerate bedmate, even if he did have a loud snore on occasion.

He was just too considerate, Therion thought to himself yet again, as Alfyn maneuvered himself as gently as he could into position next to him. There was an inch of a space between them, and he watched as Alfyn scooted himself backwards by another inch. “Heh, this is so I don’t accidentally crush you to me like I did the other night. Gave me a good scare when you nearly shoved me off the bed like that.” Alfyn chuckled like Therion didn’t shove him off with enough force to brain him on the floor, and wasn’t it a good thing that he caught himself just in time? “I’ll try to keep my arms to myself tonight, alright? Sleep well, Therion.” There was that soft, sappy smile again. The one that Alfyn kept giving him before they went to bed and was more suited for puppies or kittens than Therion.

“ _Why do you keep being so nice to me_ ,” he wanted to scream, but didn’t, at the apothecary. Therion didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve the kindness that Alfyn insisted on showing up, and not that stupid smile that he kept on being given every night they shared a bed. Fuck, this wasn’t even the first time that Therion had hurt Alfyn when they shared a bed together. There was one time when Therion had stabbed Alfyn’s arm on account of it being _slung over his shoulder_ after one particularly terrifying nightmare.

He remembered the accusatory look that Primrose had given him the morning after, even as Alfyn insisted that he was alright and that just meant that he’d have to practice using his off hand for things. “Stop fussin’ over me,” Alfyn had hollered while waving gesturing frantically and trying to bandage his bleeding arm. “I’m going to be fine Prim, and, no, stop glarin’ at Therion like that. He didn’t mean to do it, I just scared him is all. It could have happened to anyone.” The next night, Olberic had insisted on sharing a bed with him. The night after that, Alfyn had joked about putting armor on before heading to bed with Therion.

He couldn’t understand it. How could Alfyn joke around like that when he could have very well lost his arm because of him? Anyone else, anyone with common sense he couldn’t help but think, would be suitably wary about sleeping with him, but not Alfyn. The one precaution that Alfyn had taken was to make sure he left some space between them whenever they shared a bed. Sometimes, that space was still there, mere inches of space between their fingertips. Other times, it was as if that space had never existed given how tightly Alfyn cradled him in his arms when he awoke (like he was something precious).

Anyone else would be extra cautious about sharing a bed with a thief that didn’t handle company well, but Alfyn was as carefree around him as ever. He bit his tongue at Alfyn’s behavior. If Alfyn wanted to act like Therion wasn’t harmless, he did so at his own peril.

“Why are you so carefree around me,” Therion had once sleepily asked Alfyn as Alfyn tucked the two of them into bed. “I hurt you once, I’ll do it again.”

Alfyn had paused in the middle of arranging them and the blankets so they were warm and comfortable. Therion remembered how Alfyn’s breath had drifted lazily into the air, and how the snow was falling slowly from the sky outside the window. He remembered how Alfyn’s lips had curled into a soft smile and how he chuckled, the sound echoing in the room like the warm crackle of a fire on a hearth. He remembered how those warm honey eyes had looked at him, and how he wanted to drink in that gaze forever. “That’s because you’re a good person Therion,” Alfyn had said as he pulled Therion to him to conserve warmth, that same soft smile on his face as always. “You didn’t mean to hurt me. I know you, Therion, you have a good heart. You would never hurt anyone on purpose like that- well, not unless they deserved it anyway.” There was a bright, but soft laugh as Alfyn closed his eyes. “I hope I haven’t done anythin’ to deserve it. Don’t want to hurt you none, you don’t deserve it.”

Something in Therion had shifted upon hearing those words, and he spent the night puzzling out the calm expression on Alfyn’s face, before sleep finally took him.

…

“Therion look out!”

Therion held his dagger in front of him as he turned to face the giant eagle that thought to attack him from behind. He was prepared to throw the dagger at the damn bird, its talons moving ever closer to his face, when Alfyn beat him to the punch. The thief could only watch as Alfyn positioned himself between the two and took the bird down in one overhand swing of his axe. (His eyes traced the lines of the apothecary’s arm, how the muscles bulged and strained as he swung down his axe.)

“Phew, nearly got you there, Therion.” Alfyn beamed at him, smile bright and wide like all he had done was to catch a giant fish for dinner, and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Would have been a lot more worse for wear if I wasn’t there. Good thing I was huh?”

Therion shrugged. “Speak for yourself medicine man, I could have probably taken it down with a well placed dagger throw.” He might have, he might also have been a lot worse off for it. Therion ignored Alfyn as he poked around the bird for any useful things it might have been on the giant eagle carcass. Therion grumbled to himself as he plucked off a few loose feathers. Always good to sell for a few leaves if nothing else.

“Hey Alfyn!” Therion watched out of the corner of his eye as the apothecary turned to face the young woman who had called out for him. “I got some sleepweed for ya from those hyenas, I hope you put it to _good_ use you hear?”

“Shucks Tress, that’s sweet of you.” He watched as Alfyn trotted over to the merchant and eagerly accepted a small wad of sleepweed from her. Therion looked away as Alfyn carefully handled the plant matter and place it in his satchel, as if it was the greatest treasure he could receive. Sleepweed wasn’t even worth that much. He could probably get a small bunch from the giant eagle feather he picked up.

“That sure was nice of her wasn’t it,” Alfyn mentioned as he walked over to where Therion was, Tressa happily tagging along with Primrose and the girls quickly falling into conversation about something. “Having her on our party is a like a breath of fresh air sometimes.”

“You mean it’s like having two cheerful idiots blabbering away at everyone-”

Alfyn stopped and a frown crossed his face. “-Therion-”

“-look, you’re the apothecary in our party and know how to use sleepweed. She probably just wants you to have it in case something makes her sleepy in the middle of battle.” Therion didn’t stop walking. A moment later, he heard footsteps resume behind him a moment later, although at a more sedate pace than from before.

“Y’know, Tressa tries her best.” Therion just grunted in response. “This is her first time away from home and she hasn’t really been out of her town much before. Shucks, this is _my_ first time being so far from home, but I at least would explore the caves and rivers outside of town with Zeph when we were younger. Almost got to the borders with the Cliftlands once, and wouldn’t it have been funny if we met in Bolderfall when we were younger?” Alfyn jogged to catch up with him and nudged Therion’s shoulder with his own. (He resisted the urge to tell him that, one, depending on how _much_ younger, he wouldn’t necessarily have been in Bolderfall, and, two, younger Alfyn would _not_ have liked meeting younger Therion no matter _how_ well they got along now.) “ ‘sides, she’s like a younger sister to everyone, you just wanna cheer her on y’know?” Therion stared at him as if to ask if Alfyn mistook him for someone who would _want_ Tressa as a younger sister. He was about to respond when Alfyn chuckled and patted him on his back. “So don’t you go on bein’ jealous, okay Therion?”

Jealous? He froze. Oh _hells_ no- “I was not being jealous, medicine man!”

“Oh yeah? Then how come you were bein’ so mean to her?” Alfyn raised one eyebrow as that stupid grin from before replastered itself on his face. “Oh, the two of ya don’t always get along, but calling her a cheerful idiot? That was kinda mean wasn’t it?”

“Hey! You’re the other cheerful blabbering idiot in the party you kno-”

“-Besides.” Therion watched as Alfyn stopped to give him the biggest shit eating grin he had ever seen on the man’s face. “You ain’t got nothing to be jealous of Therion, you’ll always be my favorite bedmate.” Therion was left spluttering as Alfyn winked, _winked_ , at him and started on the way back to town. He muttered something about annoying idiots under his breath before he ran and tackled Alfyn.

He ended up half chasing, half arguing with a laughing Alfyn all the way back to town. The girls’ hushed whispers from behind them following him all the way to the inn.

…

It all came to a head one night.

One night after they had all traveled through the ruins and realized there was no going back.

One night with way too much mead shared between the group.

One night when there were enough rooms at the inn for them to have a room just to the two of them.

Therion shoved Alfyn hard into the wall of their room, his hands fisted into the apothecary’s shirt, and slotted their mouths together. Alfyn’s eyes slide closed and he _moaned_ into his mouth (and may Aeber strike him blind if that wasn’t the hottest he had experienced). Therion swallowed the moans and sighs as he felt hands that had been resting at Alfyn’s side reach around him and rest on his hips.

“Therion,” Alfyn sighed into his mouth. “Therion, we should stop.” Therion didn’t stop. Instead, he took the opportunity to snake his tongue into Alfyn’s mouth and there was nothing but moaning and the sound of clothes being removed for the next few minutes. He knew he wasn’t the only one who wanted this, not when Alfyn was pulling him ever closer to him and his fingers were caressing the skin underneath them.

“Sending mixed signals there,” he murmured against Alfyn’s pulse after finally tearing his mouth away. “You sure you still wanna stop?” He drank in the sound of Alfyn’s gasps as he sucked on the skin beneath his mouth.

Alfyn closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. “Considering I’m pretty sure you’re, you know, drunk?”

“I’m not drunk,” he growled into Alfyn’s neck, his mouth traveling lower and lower. “I can show you exactly how _not_ drunk I am too.”

“Therion, it’s not a good idea. Stop.” Alfyn emphasized his words by reaching up to lightly push his shoulders away.

He tore his mouth away from Alfyn’s collarbone, his lips twisted in a snarl. It was unfair. So unfair. Alfyn’s eyes were so dilated in the darkness he could barely make out their usual honey color. The apothecary was flushed and breathing hard and he wanted to _stop_? He was overcame with a sense of rage. “Not a good idea? How is this not a good idea, you were into this just as much as I am-”

“Therion.” There was something in Alfyn’s gaze that made him stop cold. A look that looked too much like pity for his liking. “This isn’t how you deal with bad news, Therion. You don’t get drunk and fall into bed with the closest pretty face you see. You’ll regret it in the morning.”

“Is that so? I’ll regret it?” He gave an incredulous chuckle that was more of an expulsion of air than a laugh. “Me? Who has only been watching you for _as long as we’ve been traveling_ you mean?” He took a step back and met Alfyn’s gaze. No, he wasn’t the one that would be regretting this in the morning, he realized as he searched Alfyn’s eyes. “You still love him don’t you? Zeph, your childhood friend?”

The silence that fell the room could have been broken by a pin, and the idiot didn’t even try to deny it.

He could only watch as Alfyn looked away. “Therion-”

“-why Alfyn?” Therion took a step towards him, his eyes burning with anger and disappointment (and maybe the tiniest amount of hurt). His hands were clenched into fists at his side. “Why him? After all this time? He’s with _Mercedes_ , you idiot, he’s happy with _his childhood crush_ , and you might _never_ see him again you realize-”

“-You think I don’t know that Therion?! You think I haven’t been screaming at myself to let go of these feelings ever since I came across that letter that Zeph wrote? I can’t help my feelings, Therion. Even after all this time, I can’t stop loving him.”

Therion could only watch as Alfyn squeezed his eyes shut and pressed a hand against his eyes. Whether it was to stop tears from falling or to give himself focus, Therion couldn’t say. “It would be so much easier if I could just will these feelings away you know, but I can’t. I’ve tried, but it doesn’t work that way.” Alfyn inhaled shakily. “I- I should go though. It’s not fair of me to use you for a night like that. You deserve someone who loves you wholeheartedly. Someone who can return your feelings.” Alfyn removed his hand to give him one bittersweet smile before he grabbed his clothes and walked around him.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he passed by Therion. “I’m sorry I’m the bastard who hurt you like this. I’m not looking for your forgiveness, gods know I don’t deserve it, but- I do hope you find someone who is everything you need them to be.”

The door clicked softy shut when Alfyn left, softly than he thought possible. Therion stood there, alone, for a long time before he finally walked over to the bed and laid down.

The moon was full outside the window and he looked up at it. “Zeph,” he murmured up at it. “I hope you realize what a lucky bastard you are.” He sighed and closed his eyes. There was no way that Alfyn’s childhood friend could hear him, separated by time and distance as they were. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of bitterness towards the man he knew only through stories.

He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him. (He wondered if he was too broken for Alfyn to fall in love with.)

**Author's Note:**

>  **Press - for divine banter**  
>     
> Aeber: ...  
> Dohter: ...  
> Aeber: Dohter, your disciple ...  
> Dohter: ... what about Alfyn?  
> Aeber: ... hmm I was just going to comment that he seemed to have stolen Therion's heart quite effectively.  
> Dohter: ... he's good at that, it seems.


End file.
